Seixas was harsh: "It's shameful, I've let my teammates down."

Paul Seixas isn't looking for excuses after his 15th-place finish at the Montreal World Championships. The Frenchman, halted by cramps on the final lap, takes full responsibility: "It's a rookie mistake. My teammates deserved a better captain."

Paul Seixas leaves the World Cup in Montreal with a lot of disappointment and very harsh words about himself.

The talented Frenchman, who only turned 20 on Friday, finished the World Championships road race in 15th place after staying with the leaders until the decisive stages of the race. However, cramps betrayed him on the final lap, arriving just when France was still hoping to secure a major result.

Seixas did not make excuses.

"It's a huge disappointment," he said after the race. "My teammates gave everything to allow me to achieve the best possible result, and in the end it was a failure. Everything was going great, I had incredible sensations in my legs, and honestly, I don't even want to talk about it."

Seixas: "What I did today is shameful."

France had played the match extremely aggressively.

Bruno Armirail had set a very high pace in the first four laps of the final circuit, helping to progressively reduce the group and make the World Championship particularly selective.

Seixas had always remained in the leading positions and seemed to have the legs to play for something important.

When the group with Mathieu van der Poel was caught with three laps to go, the Frenchman was still fully in contention for the rainbow jersey. Then Brandon McNulty's decisive attack and, more importantly, cramps on the final lap completely ruined his plans.

After the match, Seixas was ruthless in his analysis.

“What I did today is shameful, having cramps like that,” he said.

Then he doubled down:

"It's a rookie mistake. I've never had cramps on a bike in my entire life. I'm disappointed in myself, but I deserve it."

Strong words, especially for a runner of just 20 years old.

"My teammates deserved a better leader."

The work done by the French team has had the greatest impact on Seixas' disappointment.

The young Frenchman repeatedly emphasized how much his teammates had sacrificed their own race to put him in the best possible conditions.

“My teammates did an incredible job,” he explained.

And then an even harsher sentence:

“They deserved something better than a captain like me.”

Seixas also tried to find a possible explanation for the cramps.

"It must have been a hydration issue, I don't know," he admitted. "Honestly, I don't really want to talk about it."

The Frenchman finished the race 2'45" behind Brandon McNulty, the new world champion after a 33-kilometer solo attack.

Seixas: "It's my fault."

When the cramps began to make themselves felt, Seixas still tried to resist, thinking above all about the team's work.

“When I started having cramps, I knew it was going to be tough,” she said.

“But I thought of my companions, of everything they had done for me, and I tried to resist with all my strength.”

The effort, however, was not enough.

"It's truly a shame that I fought so hard only to end up like this. It's my fault, and I'm extremely disappointed in what I did."

Seixas doesn't even try to console himself by thinking that he remained close to the best until the end.

"You could say I haven't gone far, but I actually missed it a lot today. It's hard to find anything positive right now."

And again:

"It's not easy to move on after a day like this. I'll need some time."

Voeckler defends Seixas and France's tactics

The young captain was defended by French coach Thomas Voeckler.

“Paul said that any result other than victory would be a failure, so he considers it that way, but I don't reproach him for anything,” explained the coach.

Voeckler also defended the very aggressive strategy adopted by France in the early stages of the circuit.

“We did what we had to do with Bruno,” he said, referring to Armirail’s work.

"We weren't overly aggressive. We had to make the race tough. It's true that things got a little out of hand, because the race was incredibly intense."

For Seixas, the World Championships in Montreal remain an important event in an extraordinary season.

The Frenchman had already won the bronze medal in the World Championship time trial and during the 2026 season he achieved fourth place in the Tour de France, in addition to victories in the Flèche Wallonne and the Itzulia Basque Country.

Seixas will not take part in the next European Championships, while he is expected to close his season on October 10th at the Lombardia.